Season's Greetings and Happy New Year 2012

We would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  We started off the new year with a critical cold event.  We lost two crops of potatoes that were just maturing and the other one was just breaking through the soil.  I will probably get to harvest the first planting and we can have small new potatoes but it is not what we hoped for.  The roselle is history and it looks like the Swiss chard which was going to be harvested this weekend got frosted back.  We will see how they come out.  I was just thinking a few weeks ago that this might be an extraordinary winter with no freezes and was just about to plant more beans.  I am certainly glad we didn't.  They would have been just about 2" tall and frozen to the ground.  This is why we plant winter veggies during the fall and winter.  Summer veggies would all be frozen out.  Everyone longs for tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, etc. but eating seasonally is about adjusting our recipes to what is available and able to grow.  It is also about taking advantage of the greens that we have now by making dishes and freezing them or blanching and freezing them for the summer when they won't be available.  I know our supporters will balk at the idea of craving bok choi in May and June when there is none available when the last thing they probably want more of right now is the same.  But it will happen and you will be glad when you open the freezer and pull out that frozen bag of greens.  Here is a great story of how trying to do the right thing at the market place turns out bad and how we not only need to eat responsibly but also locally and seasonally.  We thank our supporters for having that same mind set.  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/31/science/earth/questions-about-organic-produce-and-sustainability.html

I am trying to grow some tomatoes in the small greenhouse as an experiment since the space wasn't being used but it is a risky venture and so far they are doing fine.  My little strawberry experiment in one gallon pots are doing fine but the yield is too low yet to do it on a large scale we have been getting about 2 pints a week with about 80 plants.  I also moved them into the greenhouse to protect the fruit and blossoms. 

I struggled to get the plastic on my greenhouse on Monday with 10-20 mph winds.  I was trying to put a new roof of plastic on the greenhouse.  I could only bring the greenhouse poly up and across the greenhouse into the headwind.  So I had a giant parasail that I thought might rip or crush the house frame when I was trying to tack it down.  I was considering how the Lord calmed the winds on the sea of Galilee and was wondering if He would do the same at that moment.  Instead, He sent a person with a problem that needed my help.  I offered to help with the problem and he offered to help on the greenhouse.  Interesting how the Lord works sometimes and both problems got resolved!

Week #3 Pickup

Things are going fairly well so far this fall.  Even without me at the farm for a few days and a pickup Jennifer managed well.  That is an extremely difficult task with three little ones to care for simultaneously.  Crops are doing well with a few flea beetles and aphids still popping up but not really as bad as some years.  The green beans (Provider) have done extremely well and I am glad I planted them.  It was a new variety for us.  I had thought about waiting until the spring to put them in but I can now do another crop in March.  Our trial of red Asian greens look great and taste wonderful too so I think that I will plant enough for a few pickups.  It looks like we have another winner.   The tomatoes are planted in the greenhouse and will be followed by peppers and eggplants.  The strawberries trial is doing OK, but they probably need more light than under the shadehouse.  I will be moving them into the greenhouse as soon as I get the irrigation switched around.   I made roselle jam last week and it turned out great.  It tastes like a cross between cranberry and cherry jam.  I only needed about 3-4 cups of prepared roselle to make the 4 small jars of jam.  Delicious and it past the kid test! Although most anything with sugar usually passes the kid test.
I almost forgot that a bear was spotted at the farm!  Buddy the Bear.

Anna got to take her class mascot home so Buddy made his way into some of the farm shots.  You'll have to "bear" with me on this one.  I did learn that our chickens are very cautious of bears.  Smart chickens!

First Week Pick Up 2011

Things are off to a good start at the farm.  Loquats are flowering, sugarcane is ready, the roselle is tasting nice, and the bok choi looks awesome.  One half of the beans are doing phenomenal.  The other half is not looking so great.  I did the exact same thing to the two rows.  The front half is full of beautiful picture perfect beans.  The back half is still producing but not like the front.  Very perplexing.
A few of the usual suspects are back as well...aphids and my nemesis flea beetles.  Otherwise things are alright.  I am still trying to get the greenhouse set up for the tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and strawberries.  I've got the tomatoes in and the irrigation drippers set up.  I just need to order the roof plastic. 
I planted a few trees over the last few months two pears and an apple.  Last week I planted three persimmon trees.  One was for Karl Rossa passing. 
I hope to have a few pictures soon. 
I will unfortunately miss the first week pick up because I will be doing Extension work in La Victoria, Dominican Republic.  I have been asked to see if I can help out the village agriculturally.  Jenn will have harvest duty for the first time.  I called my Dad out of retirement to lend a hand which he graciously accepted.  Thanks Dad!  I hope things go well for her.  I'm sure she will handle it just fine.